INTERIM COOL DECISION IN USDA’S HANDS: A WTO compliance panel has issued a confidential "interim" decision to parties in the case that Canada and Mexico brought against U.S. Country-of-Origin Labeling rules. A finding that the labels — which tell U.S. consumers which countries their meat products come from — constitute an unfair trade practice could lead to punitive tariffs on a multitude of American farm goods and other products exported to the two NAFTA partners.

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"We have received the interim report, but detailed review is necessary before commenting further," is all a USDA official would tell POLITICO Pro on Friday.

The chair of the WTO panel has previously said a final report could be expected toward the end of July. The interim report gives the three parties one last chance to comment before the decision is made public.

USDA issued a final version of its new COOL rules in May 2013, just making a deadline set by the WTO for addressing the international body’s earlier finding that the rules unfairly discriminated against livestock raised in Canada and Mexico. Instead of doing away with the labeling requirement USDA responded by issuing new rules that demand even more information be put on labels, including the locations where each production step occurred.

HAPPY MONDAY! Welcome to Morning Ag where your host has some pre-season optimism for the Washington Capitals following the NHL draft this weekend: http://wapo.st/1nUzpP2. If not, well, disgruntled fandom is kind of my thing. You know the deal: thoughts, news, tips, predictions for the Caps? Send them to jhopkinson@politico.com or @ jennyhops. Follow us @ Morning_Ag and @ POLITICOPro.

COOL SUSPENSION SOUGHT IN ADVANCE, JUST IN CASE: A group of 62 trade associations, food manufacturers and other organizations have already asked the chairmen and ranking members of both the House and Senate agriculture committees to order a suspension of USDA’s COOL rule if the WTO found it constitutes an unfair trade practice and authorizes Canada and Mexico “to subject an array of U.S. exports to retaliatory tariffs.”

“We respectfully submit that it would be intolerable for the United States to maintain, even briefly, a rule that has been deemed non-compliant by the WTO. … we request that Congress authorize and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to suspend indefinitely the revised COOL rule for muscle cuts of meat upon a final adjudication of non-compliance with WTO obligations,” the organizations say in a letter sent Thursday. Among those to sign on the letter: the American Beverage Association, Cargill Inc., Nestle USA and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. The letter is here: http://bit.ly/VxP0wm

MA’s MONDAY MORNING BUZZ: The WTO’s COOL decision, and what it does or does not say, is going to spark some conversation during this holiday week. Congress is out, but staff has been briefed on the interim decision and there is a chance its conclusions could be leaked. Either way, in an otherwise likely to be quiet week inside the Beltway, it’s sure to spur a lot of chatter.

‘THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY’: Speaking of buzzing noises … a four-part series kicked off in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday paints a grim picture on the outlook for bee health. The series, by environment beat reporter Josephine Marcotty, opens by following two beekeeper families as they travel from Minnesota to California to help with the pollination of almond farms.

“This winter, [Steve] Ellis lost about 1,200 of the 2,200 hives he had in the summer. Last winter, [Jeff] Anderson lost 65 percent of his 3,000 hives and didn’t have enough bees to supply all his almond growers,” Marcotty writes.

“This is supposed to be the land of milk and honey,” Ellis reportedly said. The story is available here: http://strib.mn/1lZTuot

BEEKEEPERS IN COURT: Ellis is also the lead plaintiff in a March 2013 lawsuit against EPA alleging that the agency has failed to adequately consider a March 2012 emergency petition to cancel uses of the pesticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam, which Ellis and other beekeepers and environmental groups in the suit say are particularly hazardous to bees. However, it may be a long time before the case sees any action. In a joint case management statement filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the parties say “a trial is not expected,” and set a Dec. 15 date for motions for summary judgment. The schedule is available here: http://politico.pro/1rNWqpr

LAST DAY FOR COMMENTS ON ENLIST: Today marks the deadline for comments on EPA’s proposed registration of Dow AgroSciences new 2,4-D, glyphosate mix for use on its new ENLIST genetically engineered corn and soybeans. The crop system is designed to combat growing weed resistance to glyphosate, something farmers say they are in dire need of a solution for. However, environmentalist and other groups argue approval of the product will mean a dramatic increase in the use of 2,4-D, which they say could have implications on human health and perpetuate further resistance issues. At press time, more than 900 comments were posted to the docket, including from such groups as the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Environmental Working Group. You can read the comments here: http://1.usa.gov/1yZCTah

SODA RULING SPARKS MORE DEBATE: New York’s highest court may have struck down New York City’s soda size cap, but the debate is clearly not over on the issue. In competing op-eds sent to POLITICO Pro, the American Beverage Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest each make the case as to how to move forward with tackling obesity issues in the wake of the ruling.

“Here’s the big picture: All sugar-sweetened beverages (soda, juice drinks, teas, sports drinks, etc.) account for just six percent of the average American’s diet,” Susan Neely, president of ABA, says. “That means 94 percent of the calories that people consume come from other foods and beverages. ... The numbers just don’t add up to support the claim that soft drinks are a unique driver of obesity and diabetes.”

However, Jim O’Hara, director of health promotion policy at CSPI, in his op-ed says opposition to soda bans won’t last forever, given the growing body of science linking consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to a host of health issues, and as evidenced by the “legal pretzel” the court tied itself into when reaching the decision. The majority rested its opinion on an earlier court decision that addressed efforts by the Board of Public Health to prohibit smoking in public areas. “The irony of the precedent should be noted: Once upon a time, the prohibiting of indoor smoking was seen as regulatory overreach indeed,” he writes.

GROUPS PUSH BACK ON CLINTON’S BIOTECH REMARKS: The Center for Food Safety is pointing to a 2012 Union of Concerned Scientists report that found there may be better ways to produce drought-resistant crops for developing countries than through genetic engineering following remarks last week from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that biotechnology could be the solution for global hunger issues.

“I’m happy to see that Secretary Clinton is continuing to show interest in global food production and the challenges going forward,” Doug Gurian-Sherman, director of sustainable agriculture at CFS, tells MA. “However, and maybe not surprisingly, I would hope that she would pay more attention to responsible sources in the science and development communities that have long recognized that approaches to helping farmers … should focus on approaches other than genetic engineering.” The 2012 UCS report can be found here: http://bit.ly/1sOLLPs

FDA’S TAYLOR: NO PROHIBITION AGAINST WOODEN BOARDS: FDA has stepped even further away from its statements against the use of wooden boards for aging cheese, telling Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) in a letter sent Thursday that its recent comments were “overly broad and painted a picture that that did not reflect FDA’s actual policy and practices.”

“Contrary to the impression conveyed by various emails on this topic from FDA staff, FDA has not categorically determined that wooden shelves used in the manufacturing of cheeses are not ‘adequately cleanable,’ and thus FDA does not have a policy prohibiting them,” says Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine. More on the letter for Pro subscribers is available here: http://politico.pro/TucIri

MA’s INSTANT OATS

-- The U.S. dairy industry is not insisting Japan completely eliminate tariffs in the TPP talks but still wants significant commercial access, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun: http://bit.ly/1lSOqlH

-- Ireland could be selling beef in the U.S. by September, the first European country to do so after the U.S. lifted “mad cow” disease restrictions, reports RTE News: http://bit.ly/1sIETmN

-- California lawmakers have repealed a law requiring restaurant workers to wear gloves during food preparation, The LA Times reports: http://lat.ms/1veq5Z5

-- Recent decisions in Washington, D.C., on temporary visas for herders and the proposed closure of a USDA experimental station that studied sheep in Idaho is resulting in tough times for sheep ranchers, the Idaho Statesman reports: http://bit.ly/1r0K1AT

Authors:

About The Author

Before joining POLITICO, she spent three years at Inside Washington Publishers reporting on the EPA with a focus on chemicals policy, pesticides and water issues. Prior to that, Hopkinson was a reporter for The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times where she followed local governments as they tackled falling tax revenues and stagnating rural development, in addition to playing almost every mini-golf course in Ocean City, Md., in the name of a feature story.

Hopkinson earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Maryland. She lives in Washington, D.C.